Trial Version of Microsoft Office 2007

If you use Microsoft Office, Outlook, OneNote or Publisher, you may be interested in the free trial version of the latest products. Microsoft has made the Office 2007 Beta 2 available for public users. You can download the beta version and use it online for 60 days at no charge.

Microsoft Office 2007 has a radical new interface, and quite a few other things have changed. Office now uses pulldown menus less often than before, abandoning that concept in favor of a new "ribbon" for frequently-used menu items.

The trial version allows you to evaluate the program for a limited amount of time, typically 60 days. To use the trial version, you must activate the software the first time you run it. This activation is free of charge. Once the sixty days has passed, the software stops working. At that point, you need to either uninstall it or purchase the full version.

I tried the Trial Version of Microsoft Office and found that I didn't like it. The new ribbon menus struck me as very non-intuitive, and they cluttered up the screen. I also was disappointed that Microsoft Word 2007 saves in a default format of .DOCX files, a format that is incompatible with other programs. Luckily, the defaults can be changed. I quickly abandoned the ribbon menus and switched to traditional menus instead. I also found how to change the default files setting to traditional .DOC files.

Even so, after a few days' use, I uninstalled Microsoft Office 2007. I found that the new version didn't do anything that I needed and that is already available in earlier versions. In fact, I continue to use OpenOffice on my Windows systems. (This article is being written in NeoOffice, a version of OpenOffice for Macintosh.)

You may have different preferences than I do, however. You may prefer to use Microsoft Office. If so, you may want to investigate the changes available in Microsoft Office 2007.

WARNINGS:

1. Don't install Microsoft Office 2007 over your old Office. If you do, it will be more difficult to go back to the old version after the trial ends.
2. Don't load and save documents you have created with older versions of Office without first backing all of them up.

You can download Microsoft Office 2007 (and the free license keys) at: http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/beta/getthebeta.mspx.

Comments

[Dino (All Dino, All the Time)]

Well, that's a surprise! Dick found a Microsoft product that he doesn't like.

Actually I believe that the .DOCX file format is simply an XML formatted documented saved in a ZIP package. Microsot has said that any software developers can get the specs for their new XML/ZIP file format so that any program can be engineered to easily open any files saved in this format. I do not believe that this is the same as Open XML since it is compressed to save storage space.

I'm not sure that a few days test (or was it a single day) of the new ribbon interface is sufficient to become acquanted with it. After all, the pulldown menu structure is only intuitive because everyone has been using it for so long. I'm still undecided on the ribbon bar, myself.

So, when is NeoOffice going to come out with a grammar checker?

[Jason Presley]

I think the idea of a more "intuitive" version of an already existing, and well established, system is completely over emphasized in contemporary software design. If people have learned to do something a certain way for 10-20 years (like the standard menu system of a word processor), how is a new system that must be learned from scratch more "intuitive"? It's just something else that has to be learned at the expense of existing operating efficiency. Take the QWERTY keyboard, for instance. Despite multiple attempts to develop a more efficient keyboard layout, the fact remains that everyone learned on the QWERTY. And for those who can type 100+ WPM already, where's the need to learn a whole new system that will take years of re-learning?

I think Microsoft is just changing things because all the word processors on the market have pretty much standardized on the same layout and they want to differentiate themselves from the >GASP< free competition. Unfortunately, not only are they trying to get everyone to pay hundreds of dollars for an "upgrade" they don't need, they're also going to cost them thousands more dollars in lost productivity while people learn the new system. Surprisingly, each successive release of Office costs MORE than its predecessor, rather than less, as many of their competitors do.

[Erika Howard]

Watch out! I believe that if you create a document in Office 2007 trial version and you decide not to buy the full version, you will not be able to use that document once the trial has expired. Microsoft has disabled the "Save As" command options, so you will not be able to save it in any older format. In addition, there is a lot of dispute over whether Microsofts "Open Office XML" formats are actually usable by anyone else- no programs other than Microsoft 2007 are using them.

http://www.grokdoc.net/index.php/EOOXML_objections
http://openstack.blogspot.com/2007/01/game-time-for-opendocument.html

[Robert Larson]

After I tried a friend's version of Office 2007, who was also having troubles adapting to the new ribbon interface, I could see the new version was really meant for elementary school students. I'm sure most of you have seen the show, "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?" Even though that show makes most adults look ridiculous, it's obvious Office 2007 does the same thing. I believe Microsoft is catering to a whole new demographics in the elementary schools as MacIntosh has.

But what do I know, I'm a senior who uses computers and Office applications daily for my business and many other volunteering activities. Remember changing from DOS to Windows? DOS was OK for its time, but Windows became a blessing with its intuitive interface.

I agree with the comments of others that it would take some time to learn the new ribbon technology, but if Microsoft tried this on many beta users over the past two years, they must be sure of the eventual outcome. This is quite a gamble for Microsoft, but they are betting on it and of course, trying to keep Office proprietary and reaching new customers. From a business point of view, I can understand why they're doing this.

For sure, they probably won't be going back to the old format like Coke did with "Classic." I hated to change from 'Word Perfect' to 'Word' almost 15 years ago, but my former company forced us to. Now, I couldn't go back very easily, because of the learning time. Since Office 2007 appears to be the new trend, I would change once again to stay current. Worst case and jokingly, I'll get my granddaughter (a fourth grader) to teach me how to use the new ribbon interface.

[Carmen Johnson]

Actually, I've used Microsoft Office 2007 for several months - actually in early January. Part of my job is to learn software and to teach it to others in the insurance agency where I work. I agree that it took a few days to learn where things are, but once you do, it is actually great. Word and Excel were probably the hardest to get used to - mostly because I had customized Word and Excel to include the new items that were on the new toolbars. I like the Quick Parts in Word, the page formatting in Excel, sorting by color, etc. I really like the To Do list that is added to Outlook 2007 - you can have a toolbar on the right side of the window.

[Nick]

I use word processors all day long. I switch between Word Perfect, Word, and Open Office and have to say that I love the new Microsoft Office. It took a couple weeks to get used to, but I am now more efficient than ever. Just so you know, the ".docx" file format can easily be opened in previous versions of Microsoft Word just by downloading and installing a plugin from Microsoft's site. I've never had any problems opening files in previous versions. I love what Open Office does, but I get incredibly frustrated every time I use it and it lacks features that I consider important. I did get a good discount on Microsoft Office 2007, so for me it was well worth the money.

-Nick

[Wayne Dykstra]

I found the renaming of former functions to be tiring and unproductive within Office 2007. The ribbon format forced me to re-think all former learning procedures. However, I have found the Windows Vista renaming even more frustrating. What was the tought process that renamed the "Display" function within Control panel to "Personalize"? I thought Microsoft had discontinued that part of the computer set up. Hiding the "File" drop down menu under the Microsoft logo was the straw on the camel's back. I gave up!

[David Lowndes]

Dick--I recently got a new computer with Vista and Office 2007. You say you found out how to switch the ribbon menus to
traditional menus and how to change the default file extension to .DOC in Word 2007. Could you tell us how you do those
things? Thanks.

[Dick Eastman]

I no longer have Office 2007 installed on my system so I cannot go back and experiment with it myself. However, a quick search on Google should give you the instructions. That's how I found the information when I wanted to make the changes. There are many web pages that give step-by-step instructions on both deleting the ribbon and on going back to saving in .DOC format as a default.

- Dick Eastman

[Roderick]

Can someone please help me, I installed the trial version and I have to finish my COURSEWORK! ASAP! but I cant use my old programs!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE can someone help me how to fix this???? PLEASE! Microsoft is BULLSHIT!!

-Rod

[Devin104]

I installed the Trial Version of Office 2007.

I decided not to purchase it so I uninstalled it.

Now the original Office 2003 version that came with my laptop is GONE.

How do I get it back?

This is so damn maddening and frustrating!!

Thank you

Devin